Kimi Antonelli became the youngest Driver of the Day winner in F1 history at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. But even the Mercedes driver was surprised by the outcome of the vote.
At 18 years and 210 days, Antonelli beat Max Verstappen’s record, set at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Verstappen was 18 years and 228 days old when he won on his Red Bull debut, though it’s worth noting the award didn’t exist during his rookie season.
Antonelli picked up 20.7% of the vote at the Chinese Grand Prix, eclipsing the 15.6% share for race winner Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver started on pole and won by nearly 10 seconds.
Meanwhile, Antonelli held position in eighth, though he was later promoted to sixth after the two Ferraris were disqualified. He finished around 42 seconds behind teammate George Russell, who scored a podium.
When team principal Toto Wolff told him over the radio that he’d won the award, Antonelli described it as ‘weird’. Wolff went on to joke that ‘I think it’s your looks’.
Fans suspect Kimi Antonelli won Driver of the Day for F1 Fantasy points
F1 fans on Reddit think they’ve discovered the real reason for Antonelli’s confusing victory – fantasy points. Under the rules, a driver earns a 10-point bonus if they pick up the award.
This is the only area in which players can influence the outcome. The theory is that they voted Antonelli to help their teams, rather than making their decision on merit.
One F1 fan said the bonus ‘should be removed ASAP’, while another called it the ‘only explanation’. Another user went as far as to call it ‘rigging the entire thing’.
The rulemakers were told that this is a ‘pretty big oversight’, with one fan suggesting it was a deliberate ploy among Lando Norris owners to stop Piastri netting the bonus. The drivers are priced in such a way that very few players will possess both.
Thanks to his Shanghai bonus, Antonelli is the second-highest scorer in this year’s game on 61 points. At $19.3m (the budget is $100m), he’s one of the cheapest drivers at the front of the grid, with only Liam Lawson ($16.8m) more affordable among the top four teams.
Kimi Antonelli ‘robbed’ fellow rookie at Chinese Grand Prix
Behind Antonelli and Piastri, Haas driver Oliver Bearman was the third-highest vote-getter. Charles Leclerc was fourth prior to his disqualification, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen rounding out the top five.
F1 fans think Antonelli ‘robbed’ Bearman, his fellow rookie and former F2 teammate. Bearman picked up four points in P8, having started 17th on the grid.
| RANK | DRIVER | TEAM | VOTE |
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 20.7% |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 15.6% |
| 3 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 12.9% |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 8.4% |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 6.5% |
He also executed some fine overtakes along the way. It was an exemplary recovery after a nightmare start in Australia.
Still, Martin Brundle has changed his mind about Antonelli after what he’s seen in the first two races. He feared Mercedes would be overly reliant on Russell, but he now thinks the teenager can make a significant contribution after an encouraging start.
